


Lucky Cat

by JetGirl1832, tomatopudding



Category: In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: Animals, Cats, Family, Fluff, Gen, Humor, New York City, Pets, Pre-Canon, washington heights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 18:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17772173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JetGirl1832/pseuds/JetGirl1832, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomatopudding/pseuds/tomatopudding
Summary: What happens when one day Usnavi finds a cat who just decides to stick around?





	Lucky Cat

The summer was shaping up to be a hot one already, the blur of rising overheated air often hovering over the pavement of the streets. Usnavi was leaning against the door frame of his bodega looking out onto the familiar street. It was so hot it almost looked like the asphalt was melting.

He heard a rustle from inside the bodega, the sound of something opening and closing. Usnavi let out a deep sigh, “Sonny, you put that Coke back right now unless you actually plan to pay for it.”

The only response he got was a loud groan, “Come on, really? This is so unfair!”

“How unfair of me to want my business to make me money,” Usnavi replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Sonny grumbled but Usnavi heard him put the bottle back, “Perhaps if you actually did what I asked and showed up on time, I might reconsider.”

His gaze then drifted toward the salon next door and he spotted Vanessa outside texting on her phone. He wondered who she was talking to, to make that particular smile light up her face, and felt a vague sense of jealousy for someone he didn’t even know. It felt like he’d been crushing on Vanessa forever, not that he felt that he could ever tell her. No matter how much Sonny teased him for it, Usnavi was determined to suffer in silence.

“Hey Nessa!” Sonny hollered causing her to look over in the direction of the bodega.

Usnavi looked away, forcing down the blush that threatened to rise in his cheeks, pretending that he hadn’t been looking in her direction at all.

“Hey!” Vanessa replied, taking a few steps closer, “Slow day?”

Sonny agreed by letting out a drawn-out groan. 

“He’s annoyed that I won’t let him steal a Coke,” Usnavi informed Vanessa. 

“It’s not stealing if the store owner knows,” huffed Sonny. 

Vanessa let out a laugh, “Tell you what the next time he gives me coffee you can exchange it for Coke.”

 

“Yes!” Sonny cheered before turning to Usnavi triumphantly, “At least somebody loves me.”

“Whatever,” Usnavi muttered.

Before Sonny could gloat any more, Usnavi sent him inside to sweep the floors, which the teenager did begrudgingly. 

“He’ll be insufferable now,” Usnavi informed Vanessa, “So thanks for that.”

Vanessa grinned, “Well a Coke costs less than a coffee, so I think it’s a pretty good trade off.”

It was clear to Usnavi that Vanessa seemed unaware of the reason he did give her free coffee.

And he certainly wasn’t about to tell her now. He was also saved from saying anything else by Sonny bursting back out through the door like he was being chased. 

“There’s something in there!” he said. 

“It’s a bodega, there are many things in there,” Usnavi said slowly. 

“No, cuz, you don’t get it, there’s something behind the shelves,” Sonny insisted, “rattling around like some kinda ghost or something.”

“A ghost?” Vanessa repeated, “This I’ve gotta see.”

“I’m sure it’s not a ghost,” Usnavi said, “both of you are ridiculous.”

 

Vanessa had made it to the bodega by then and Usnavi led the way inside. 

Usnavi peered around still unsure of what Sonny was talking about.

“There’s nothing here,” Usnavi shrugged, “perhaps the heat is making you a little loco?”

“I swear, there’s something behind the tortilla chips,” Sonny told him. 

Usnavi sighed but decided to humor his cousin and walked over to the aforementioned display stand. It was then that he did hear a rattling sound.

“You both heard that right?” Sonny nearly jumped.

“Ghosts,” Vanessa said decidedly. 

Usnavi crept closer to the display stand. He didn’t really think it was a ghost, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He knelt down closer to the shelf, it was probably a rat, which would suck but a problem easier to handle than "ghosts.” 

Usnavi steeled himself for a moment and then slowly ducked around the side of the shelf. It wasn’t a rat, but it was definitely furry. The cat was having a bath, hind leg extended upwards as it licked its cream-colored belly. It paused for a moment when it saw Usnavi and then seemed to classify hmm as non threatening, returning to the task at hand. 

Usnavi let out a snort, “Hey Sonny, come take a look at your ghost.”

When they both peaked around the shelf, Vanessa let out a coo. 

“She’s so cute!”

“How do you know it’s a girl?” Usnavi asked. 

Vanessa raised an eyebrow, “Do you see anything there that indicates a male?”

Usnavi flushed, “Right.”

Unlike Vanessa, Sonny’s reaction was to take a step back. 

“Aw man,” he moaned, “that’s even worse than a ghost.”

“Why?” Vanessa said, “It’s just a cat.”

“I’m allergic to cats!” Sonny lifted up his shirt to cover his nose and mouth and then spoke with his voice muffled, “Get it out so I don’t breath it’s poison fur.”

“You can’t chase it out,” Vanessa insisted, “it’s boiling outside! The poor thing will burn her paws.”

“She has a point,” Usnavi said to the pointed look Sonny gave him.

“Usnavi is there a bowl or something I can put water in for her?” Vanessa asked.

“No!” Sonny groaned, “Do that and it’ll never leave!”

“You can check the back room,” Usnavi offered. 

When Vanessa had left, Sonny glared at his cousin silently. Usnavi simply shrugged, as if he had no other choice. 

“Why you gotta be thinking with your dick ‘stead of your brain,” the teenager mumbled. 

Usnavi leveled him with a stare until Sonny mumbled a fairly insincere apology. He then turned back to the cat who was now sitting there, staring at Sonny and Usnavi.

Usnavi began to reach towards the cat, his movements slow and deliberate. The cat watched warily through half-hooded green eyes. She made no move away, but she didn’t approach either.

“Don’t touch it,” Sonny said, “there could be fleas.”

“She is so cute,” Vanessa gushed.

She had returned from her quest successfully and she shoved Usnavi gently with her foot so that he would move out of the way. He did so and she placed a small styrofoam bowl filled with water onto the floor. The three of them stood there for a moment just watching the cat.

Their staring contest was broken when the little bell on the bodega door rang. 

“Alright, back to work,” Usnavi said. 

Sonny returned to his usual duties and Vanessa left to go back to the salon. By the time Usnavi had time to go and check on the cat again she was gone, but the dish of water was empty. 

After that day, Usnavi saw the cat around. She would show up every so often and he started leaving dishes of water or open cans of cat food just outside the bodega door. Little by little, she began to spend more and more time inside the bodega itself. Now, Usnavi didn’t have many problems with rats, but the problems completely vanished once the cat started hanging around. He named her Andanza and started keeping cat treats behind the register to give her whenever the urge struck. 

No one seemed to mind except Sonny, who for weeks was sniffling and his eyes would water. Andanza seemed to sense this and tended to follow Sonny around the store, winding around his ankles and giving little chirping meows.

“That cat is going to kill me,” Sonny declared after a violent sneezing fit.

“You were complaining about the lack of love for you,” Usnavi told him, “Andanza is just trying to fill that void for you.”

“The only thing she’s filling is my nose with congestion,” Sonny replied.

Benny was there currently scratching her head, “You know you could take something.”

“That would be giving in,” Sonny told him. 

 

Benny let out a snort, "It's your misery, cause I don't think she's leaving."

"Well not if you keep petting her she isn't!" Sonny retorted before letting out another loud sneeze.

“She’s a cat,” Benny said, “she does what she wants, damn the consequences. And would Usnavi want her to leave? I happen to know there’s someone else who’s also enamored with her. A certain person who works at a certain salon...”

Sonny huffed, "I hate that you're right."

“When did this become about me?” Usnavi protested.

“It was always about you,” Sonny grumbled.

“I don’t pay you to complain,” Usnavi told him, “restock the shelves.”

Sonny grumbled but did as he was told, very slowly. 

"I could find someone else to do your job!" Usnavi called out to his cousin.

"You know what I quit!" Sonny threw his hat on the ground and stormed out of the bodega.

Usnavi, Benny, and Andanza watched him go, all fairly unfazed by the statement. 

"That's like the third time in six months," Usnavi smirked.

Benny laughed, “As if Abuela Claudia would ever let him actually quit.”

"He'll be back," Usnavi nodded, "wanna make a bet?"

“Alright,” Benny said, raising an eyebrow, “I bet you twenty bucks he’s back in, say, ten minutes.”

“Ha! Five minutes or less,” Usnavi countered.

"You're on," Benny held out his hand.

Barely two minutes after they shook on it, the bell over the door rang. Sonny walked back in as if nothing had happened, scooped his hat off the floor and brushed it off before putting it back on his head and returning to his work. 

Usnavi smirked and held out his hand, palm up. 

“Damn,” Benny muttered, reaching for his wallet.


End file.
